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Joining Mid-Game: Redefining Volleyball Coaching at Hudl
How I collaborated with diverse teams and experts to align user needs, business goals, and deliver impactful solutions.
Why this case? Showcasing my ability in collaborating with multiple roles and units, and joining in half way and get knowledge quickly.
My growth opportunities
Cross-Functional Teamwork: Collaborated daily with PMs, engineers, designers, and internal experts to deliver a shared vision.
Stakeholder Communication: Adapted my communication to resonate with different roles and teams.
Knowledge Sharing: Leveraged expertise from various collaborators to create sport-specific solutions.
Impact
Support Call Deflection Rate 41.7%
Satisfaction Rate:
4.8/5
An improvement of 28.7% compared to the score six months before.
context
Entering the squad with a clear mission.
At the start of 2024, I joined a new team at Hudl focused on improving our offering for professional and NCAA volleyball markets. Currently served through Volleymetrics—a once trailblazing match analysis tool—our product faced competition from newer tools better addressing user needs
The PM in my squad had conducted a preliminary discovery phase in the six months prior to my arrival, identifying key challenges:
Fragmented workflows
Limited features
No collaboration settings
Restricted tools for data analysis
problem
Aligning Users and Business needs
My approach: though designer, my role is strategic and needs to be north star for others
To create a successful strategy, it was critical to align user needs with business goals:
User Needs:
Coaches want to complete match analysis within Hudl.
Increase athlete engagement.
Business Needs:
Increase ACV (Average Contract Value) among Volleymetrics customers.
Reduce customers’ reliance on competitor products.
analysis
Immersing myself in the context through collaboration
Upon joining the squad, I prioritised collaboration to quickly absorb the problem space:
Worked daily with the PM through calls, workshops, and document handovers.
Independently connected with stakeholders the PM had consulted to validate insights and build relationships.
The Plot Twist
Hudl was already building a "one-stop shop" software for all sports. This presented a unique opportunity: instead of creating a new tool, we could leverage existing core functionalities and customize them for volleyball users.
Core Functionalities to Leverage:
Analysis and data comparison with visual insights and video integration.
Collaboration among team members (coaches, analysts, players, etc.).
Seamless sharing of insights and information.
A centralized video library.
Solution
Collaboration as my superpower
Adapting this software for volleyball users required close collaboration with multiple stakeholders:
Design Team from Another Business Unit
Participated in their bi-weekly design alignment meetings.
Provided updates on my explorations.
Consulted existing documentation and adhered to their design structure and philosophy.
Presented my work in design critiques to ensure consistency and alignment.
Internal Volleyball Expert
I worked extensively with Giuse, our internal volleyball expert, whose deep knowledge accelerated my understanding of volleyball’s technical and professional nuances.
Together we:
Conducted ideation workshops to refine features and avoid errors.
Defined sport-specific solutions, enriching the overall design process.
Squad Members
Maintained daily collaboration with engineers, the PM, and QA to ensure technical feasibility, strategic alignment, and user-focused solutions.
Design process: collaboration with Competitive
Tip: flexibility and openess to follow principles and challenge them to blend at my needs
Designers in other business units were the owners of the new Performance Core platform so I had to follow rules and design pricicples set by them.
build it
How do I measure success?
Success metrics were tied to both user satisfaction and business outcomes:
User Engagement: Increased adoption of analysis and collaboration features.
ACV Growth: Observable increase in contract value among volleyball customers.
Reduction in Churn: Users relying less on competitor products.